funfetti cake + homemade sprinkles

Nathaniel turned 25 this past Sunday! He’s officially a quarter of a century old. Half way there…I guess to 50? We’re slowly moving our way through our 20’s—what an interesting decade.

My grandparents happened to be in town this year for Nathaniel’s birthday, so we had a big, fat Puerto Rican fiesta. Several classics that are usually for special occasions and not day to day cooking: mofongo (smashed, fried and boiled plantains with garlic and chicharrones) topped with shrimp, and carne frita (fried pork cubes). Oh, and of course there were rice and beans.

For his cake I had been planning to make Molly Yeh‘s Funfetti cake ever since I got her new book, Molly on the Range. People asked if this was his favorite cake of if he asked for it—neither of those were the case; but how could you not want homemade almondy, white cake with floating fireworks of color in each slice?? Needless to say this cake will become a regular in our family’s repertoire—especially since my mom said, “this is the best cake I’ve ever had”…..WOW

A little something extra: here is a link to how to make homemade sprinkles!! They’re super easy and much tastier than the store bought kind. You can customize the colors and also the flavors. A word of wisdom: don’t try to pipe it in plastic bags. The hole has to be so small and the mixture is thick enough that the bags will burst. (This happened to me THREE times!) Go get a piping bag…it’s worth it:)